Rai Scores Two

As Manfredi Holds the Fort!

Gary Rai extended his point scoring streak to 6 games as he popped 2 goals, including the winner in the second period, to lead the team to their 2nd victory this week as the Kamloops Storm beat arch-rival Chase Chiefs 4-1 in Friday night action. But it was goaltender Anthony Manfredi who stood on his ear and made save after miraculous save in the Kamloops net to help his team the victory and a first star selection.

It was a very good game with the ebb and flow going back and forth. The Chiefs sent a barrage of shots (46) at Manfredi but had a heck of a time trying to figure him out. It may have been the best home performance by Manfredi this year. At the other end, Chiefs goaltender Riley Wall had a pretty good game and made some great saves himself but it seemed like 'one of those nights' that had the pucks just squeeking by him. Wall made 25 saves on 29 shots.

Taylor Stuart was the dominant playmaker as he set up Rai for both his goals. Stuart made brilliant passes to set up Rai for the easy goals. This combo could be a real force down the road and into the playoffs as Rai is now starting to perform as the player he was expected to be. Stuart just keeps getting better all the time as his skating has improved tremendously and his hands have softened enough to be a huge contributor on the score sheet (competition beware... his hands haven't softened enough to not pummel even the toughest of physical challengers).

Ty Jackson opened the scoring late in the first period, a result of some good work by line-mates Bevin Ollek and Jason Allesio. Rai scored 2 goals in the 2nd period along with another marker by Riley Orr to complete the Kamloops scoring. Jordan Wood scored on the power-play in the 3rd period to put Chase on the board and spoil an otherwise perfect performance by Manfredi.

I liked that coach Greg Hawgood mixed the lines, especially separating Ollek and Rai. Both these guys like to do their work close in to the goaltender and they didn't seem to mesh in previous games as suspected. It also took away from the play of Jason Allesio who didn't seem to see the puck enough to work his magic. I personally liked the line of Allesio, Jackson and Ollek... I hope that we see it again.

Kolten Moen was back after a short absence (not sure what it was) and played a good game. The only regular starter out right now is Brett Defrias with an upper body injury and is not expected back until the new year.

The Sicamous Eagles are in town tonight for another important divisional match-up as the Storm attemptes to climb back up in the standings. After last nights' win, the Storm are tied with Chase and the Princeton Posse for 3rd in the division. All these teams are playing tonight and it appears that Kamloops has the toughest game. Chase hosts the 6th place Penticton Lakers while Princeton hosts the Grand Forks Border Bruins who have the worst record in the entire KIJHL with only 3 wins and 7 points so far for the season.


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Kamloops and Chase Split Weekend in Pink

Storm Edges Ahead to 2nd Place in Okanagan -Shuswap Division

A strong effort from veterans Tyler Jackson, Taylor Stuart, Jason Alessio and goaltender Anthony Manfredi saw Kamloops own or share the lead throughout the game Saturday night as the Storm came through with a 5-3 victory on home ice.

Both Jackson and Stuart had a goal and two assists each while Alessio, with a strong skating performance, scored the first and last goals of the evening. Beven Ollek scored the winner with his team leading 12th goal of the season.

The Chase Chiefs got a strong performance from David Harrison, who had 2 goals while Jordie Cool scored the other.

It was a back and forth game where special teams played a big part, particularly for the Storm, as they scored 3 power play goals. The Storm looked like they were in control when they took a 1-0 lead into the 2nd period and made it 2-0 before Chase started to claw back, scoring 2 goals within 6 minutes to tie the score. Ty Jackson, again on the power-play scored before the end of the period to make it 3-2 going into the 3rd.

Again Chase tied the score as Harrison notched his second of the evening half-way through the 3rd period but it was Bevan Ollek with a mid-air tip on a Logan Hawgood shot past goaltender Riley Wall that put the Storm ahead to stay. Jason Alessio finalized the scoring with an empty net tally.

There were only a couple of altercations of note... **Catlin McLeod for the Storm took on Scott Renner during the only real fight in the game... while there was a bit of a donnybrook near the end of the game when Storm goaltender Anthony Manfredi got ran over in his crease with about 10 seconds to go.

The McDonald's 3 Stars of the Game:

1) Tyler Jackson
2) Taylor Stuart
3) David Harrison

The Men in Pink promotion for Breast Cancer was success with lots of stuff donated and auctioned off. The Storm players wore pink sweaters that were also auctioned off after the game.
It was a packed house of 900+ as both Kamloops and Chase fans were entertained by the two rival teams.

League Standings

Box Score - Saturday - Kamloops 5 Chase 3

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On Friday night in Chase, the Chiefs scored a late goal in the 3rd period to pull out a 3-2 win against the Storm in another great game. I wasn't there but I understand that the fans filled the Chase arena too.
Brock Balson had 2 for Chase while David Harrison scored the winner with 2:19 left in the 3rd period. Colten Moen and Brady Fuller replied for the Storm who were outshot 44-22. Anthony Manfredi felt the heat between the pipes for Kamloops while Jordan Bytelaar had a somewhat easier evening at the other end for the Chiefs.

Box Score - Friday - Chase 3 Kamloops 2

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Unlike the last couple of games in Kamloops, the coaches managed to stay on the bench for the entire game. The officiating crew did a pretty good job letting the players play. The players and coaches, in turn, showed discipline and for the most part, stuck to playing the game. I believe that the crowd enjoyed and appreciated the flow of the game.

**apologies for the error earlier in this post when I identified Colton Moen as the combatant for the Kamloops Storm during this game.
Colton is injured and the combatant was Catlin McLeod...
thanks to the 3 readers who quickly let me know

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Spencer Donaldson still hasn't returned to the team but Storm Ass't manager, Gary Donaldson has been quietly doing a good job for the Storm on the sponsorship end of things.

Dylan Becker is serving a 5 game suspension after receiving a match penalty last weekend in Spokane. We haven't heard what the basis of the infraction was but 5 games is a pretty healthy penalty. He will be eligible to play again on Nov 6.

Sheldon McDonald is practicing again. Expect him to be back within the next week or so to help shore up the defensive ranks for the Storm.

Next game for the Storm... Wed Oct 28 in Sicamous
Next home game... Oct 30 vs the North Okanagan Knights

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Note... I'll be out of town for next weekend's games. Mike Potestio will be doing the play-by-play on Friday night and possibly on Sunday against Princeton. I should be back on Nov 7 for the home game against the Sicamous Eagles.
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Storm Gathering Strength

Despite Dwindling Bench

The Kamloops Storm continue to create distance between them and the pack in the KIJHL Okanagan-Shuswap division. After 3 divisional games, gathering 5 of a possible 6 points, the Storm is poised to enter the New Year in first place despite the depletion of the roster.

The only blip on the radar this weekend was a 5-4 OT loss to the Posse on Friday night in Princeton. After a convincing 4-0 win over the Revelstoke Grizzlies at home on Saturday, the Storm followed up with a high scoring win, 7-4 over the visiting Summerland Sting.

Kamloops came into the year with a deep roster at all positions. As the year has progressed there have been a number of trades, deletions and injuries that have cut back on critical manpower but to the credit of the management and coaches, the team just keeps rolling along.

Austin Goode (5), Jose Reyes (7), David Gore(6), and Jamie Galbraith(5) all had big point weekends, Galbraith being the most consistent of the bunch as he had goals in every game.

Despite the success, the Storm have had to dip into the AP pool because of various injuries and illnesses. Kyle Graham has gone from AP to a signed back-up goaltender as Christian Pedersen continues to rehabilitate from a knee injury. With the departure of Sheldon McDonald and illness to Mike McCance (mono), James Friedel has filled in one spot temporaily while Logan Hawgood (AP) and Daniel Buchanan (AP) played alternately at home this weekend.

The forward too, have been shorthanded. Players like Duncan Shultz (AP), Rylan Willoughby(AP), Cody Jules (AP) and Ryan Clark (AP) have done an adequate job while Ryan Hanes (ankle) and Tyler Jackson (knee) recover from their injuries. It's unlikely that either of these guys will be back before Christmas.

So, despite the dent in the depth chart, the Storm keep rolling. Let's hope that the New Year brings them health and a full roster.
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The back-to-back games against Chase this coming weekend have more on the line than points and pride.




It's the Men-in-Pink weekend where the Storm will be wearing pink jersys in support for Breast Cancer. H.I.S. Ventures has purchased the pink jersys and helmets for the referees. The jersys will then be auctioned off and the money donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation. You can also purchase T-shirts at the game where $5 from each sale goes to the cause. The T-Shirts sell for $15. If you where pink to the game in Kamloops, $1 will be donated.

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Princeton Gets a Break... Lose only 7 Points for an ineligible player

The Posse caught a break from the league who only assessed a 7 point penalty for having an ineligible player on the roster since Oct 5. They could have lost as many as 22 points if the league stayed with the letter of the law. However that kind of penalty may have had enough negative effect on the team that they would have had to fold, considering they probably would have been eliminated from playoff contention in December, fan support would dwindle and team sponsorships could dry up. A compassionate but necessary decision by the league to help keep a long time franchise above water. As it is the Coach/GM's job to ensure that the rosters are in order, the responsibility falls on them. Therefore, coach and gm, Dale Hladun will be suspended for a total of 9 games for his oversight.

A fair ending to a complicated piece of league legislation.
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Kamloops Storm Split Weekend Tilts

Nelson Leafs dump the Kamloops Storm 2-1 in Regulation

The Kamloops Storm faced some stiff opposition in their home barn last Friday when league leaders, Nelson Leafs came to town. It was a tight game between two of the most powerful offenses in the league and a battle between two top notch goaltenders.

The scoring didn't get started until the middle of the second period when the Leafs Dane Rupert cashed in on the power-play. Up until that point both goaltenders, Anthony Manfredi and Garrett Beckwith were rock solid, even acrobatic.

Kamloops got on the board early in the 3rd period, also on the power-play when David Gore finished off a nice 3 way play from Ludvig and Naka. Gore has been hot of late with 6 goals in 3 games.

Nelson finished off the scoring on another slick passing play as Kai Bauman slid a rebound under Manfredi. Kamloops got itself into penalty trouble at the end of the game, leaving only 10 seconds to be at full strength. Sean Menton, who took the penalty knew where to go when he got out of the box but couldn't knock down the pass to get a final chance to tie the score.

The game was close, with both teams showing similar characteristics that make them amongst the best in the league... depth at offense, strong skating skills and of course, quality goaltending.
I thought that Nelson showed a little more organization on the power play and holding the blue line. Manfredi really did a great job there.

Depth at offense was starting to show up in the Kamloops 4th line of Jackson, Friedel and Stuart.
Both Taylor Stuart and Friedel has one of their best games of the season showing much stronger skating and offensive zone control. Jackson was his usual spunky self and is happy to have a couple of wingers that he can work with.

Darren Mann returned after almost a month off. He looked a little tender out there but that will improve with time.

In summary, although the crowd was entertained, Kamloops again fell to a top team from the other division (Golden twice/Fernie) in their own barn. As good as they are looking now, there is still room for improvement. They meet the Leafs again on Nov 23 in Nelson and let's hope that the Storm can return the favor.

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James Friedel hits the Score Sheet



On Saturday night the Storm visited the Revelstoke Grizzlies. The Grizzlies dominated the first period, out shooting the Storm 15-5. Again Manfredi was hot, but it was James Friedel who got the Storm off to an early start. With their strong play the night before, Coach Patterson, showing a lot of confidence in the Jackson line, started them and Friedel got his first goal of the year, unassisted. It was 1-1 after the first period.
Two quick power-play goals in the second period by Jose Reyes and David Gore put Kamloops ahead to stay. Ryan Hanes scored the other 2 goals with a total of 4 goals in the 2nd period.

The 3rd period appeared to be a goon show as both teams took a truck load of penalties with 6 players being ejected for fighting. Ty Jackson finished off the scoring in the 3rd period making it a 6-2 final.

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Brandon Long has left the team to pursue Jr hockey on the lower mainland. Apparently he has an opportunity to AP with a BCHL team in the area (Surrey?) but it wasn't going to happen unless he was locally available. Good luck Brandon.

Last but not least, back-up goaltender JJ Zackall finished off the game in the 3rd period, logging 5:57 min and stopping 5 of 5 shots.

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